While the majority of attention given to professional surfing happens around the WSL Championship Tour, other competitions draw a different crowd of surfers, many outside the top competitive rankings. And if you can’t make it out to watch an event live, you can always stream some of the best surfing here. Here are four of the best competitions to look for or you can just play some games from best online gambling sites if you are already updated.
Tudor Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge
Nazaré is the wave where seven out of ten of the biggest waves ever surfed were ridden. It’s rare that the conditions line up right to surf, and even rarer that it lasts long enough to run a contest. But it usually happens once per season, which runs from January through April. When it’s called to start, the competitors have around twenty-four hours to get to Portugal with their teams and surf this event. And as an audience, you can check out some surf-themed games and enjoy some of the best online casino bonus to keep boredom away from you.
Quicksilver Jaws Big Wave Challenge
Jaws is one of the most powerful big waves on the planet, and where much of the progression in big wave surfing takes place. The people who surf here don’t just get past the building-sized waves, which are already incredibly dangerous, they also try to get barreled, do turns, and even launch airs. The Jaws Big Wave Challenge waiting period is from November to April. Once it’s called to start, competitors from around the world will travel to Maui to try and score the ride of their lives.
Vans Triple Crown of Surfing
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is a longstanding contest that has been held throughout the winter on the North Shore of Oahu since 1982. It crowns the best surfer from a combination of events at Pipeline, Sunset, and Haleiwa, home to the best and most powerful waves in the world. In 2020, the event format shifted, and rather than run three days of contests, surfers submit two videos from each wave. This new format allows for a much bigger pool of contestants and more opportunities for local Hawaiian surfers to participate.
Rip Curl WSL Finals
The Rip Curl WSL Finals at Lower Trestles is the deciding event of the World Title. Historically, the world champion was the person who accumulated the most points throughout the season, whether or not they won the final event. But two years ago, the WSL changed the contest format so that overall points in the season are used to select five surfers for the final event. The finals run as a tournament, where the fifth-place surfer competes against the fourth-place surfer in the first round. The winner moves on to face the third-place surfer, and so on and so on. Whoever makes their way to the final round surfs three matches against the first-place-seeded surfer to determine who wins the world title.
Vans US Open of Surfing
The US Open of Surfing is one of the pillars of California’s surf culture. It has been running since 1959 under various names but has always occurred during the summer in Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach was one of the original epi-centres of surf culture and is the headquarters of many surf brands. The weeklong festival is now the most significant action sports showcase in the world featuring surfing, skateboarding, and BMX contests. It is also one of the most significant qualifying events for the World Championship Tour, so it draws aspiring surfers from all over the world.
